r/Multicopter • u/EmetInteractive • 3d ago
Discussion What drone technology do you think will change the hobby most over the next decade?
Over the next 5 - 10 years, what do you think will make the biggest difference in the drone world?
Battery life and cameras will probably keep improving, but I’m more curious about things like autonomous flight, obstacle avoidance, navigation, and drones working together.
Is there one area you think will completely change how people build and fly drones, or will progress come from several smaller improvements?
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u/Guns_and_Dank Ridin a FatShark @ Warpquad speed in SunnySky's while Black'dOut 3d ago
I've always thought the game-ification of drones would be really cool. Like imagine being able to have laser tag like dogfights with other drones. Especially if we could fold in some AR features, like target lock reticules, incoming missile alerts, or to be able to throw down some QR code mats out in a field that could simulate anti-aircraft batteries or giant monsters you've gotta battle.
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u/start3ch 3d ago
Unfortunately, I think the single biggest thing that will impact this hobby in the coming decades is their militarization.
Eventually we will get to a point where military drones don’t look exactly like hobby ones, but right now, flying a drone in a park puts both the public and law enforcement on edge, and I think this will lead to new restrictions and requirements in the coming years.
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u/IvorTheEngine 2d ago
Surely it's the bomb strapped to a military drone that makes it scary? Why would anyone assume that a drone in a park is carrying a bomb?
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u/start3ch 2d ago
Because right now, they are literally just hobby drones with grenades attached
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u/IvorTheEngine 1d ago
But "a bad guy with a grenade" doesn't need a drone to be dangerous.
Also it should be obvious to anyone that drones aren't automatically sold with a supply of grenades.
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u/MpVpRb 3d ago
Government restrictions on Chinese drones and FPV need to be eliminated or the hobby is dead
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u/HugeButterfly 2d ago
It's not just products from China, the ban is all new non-US equipment. And I think that matters because it highlights just how dumb the ban is.
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u/Urkqsrk_aiypwzqp 1d ago
Heh world is bigger than US with half of it keeping the Pedo ruining their hobby
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u/PristineArugula5131 2d ago
Better batteries. Energy density and discharge rates seem to be the biggest bottleneck for performance right now.
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u/andresAtMudra 2d ago
DJI cam which is smaller and more durable then the current lite version. We will see a digital whoop golden age
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u/gwenbeth 2d ago
I think the hobby side multicopter world has 2 main foci. There is the photography focus, and there is the flying things focus. Moving things from a to b is a third focus, but that is often for commercial and not hobby use. There aren't really distinct boundaries between these. For the "i like to fly things" side, I think there will be technological improvements but nothing really earth shattering on the horizon like fpv was. On the photographic side, I think there is a lot of possibilities with ai tools. If I was filming videos of myself hiking, being able to give voice commands would be incredible "Follow 10m behind me and 5m high", "Stay pointing at me and slowly circle around and film me from the front , then go left and get shot of me with the waterfall behind me" To be able to manage the shots without handling a controller would enable a lot of cool stuff. Or imagine a rancher who can set up a flight path around his ranch and then alert her when a broken fence is detected.
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u/IvorTheEngine 2d ago
I'm not sure there's a lot of room for improvement. Things have been pretty static for the last 5 years or so in the FPV world. We'll continue to see small improvements in batteries and video technology, but they're already pretty good. I guess the only gap in the market is really good digital Whoops.
I think you're right that computing power and AI will improve photography drones, making them even easier to use and producing better quality video.
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u/Flyward_Aerospace 2d ago
Regulation is the right call in the top comment but I'd point at something narrower, which is where the compliance has to live. My understanding is a home build can't realistically be a standard Remote ID aircraft, because that path wants a declaration of compliance from a manufacturer and you flashing your own firmware aren't one, so custom builds stay on bolt-on modules indefinitely. The decade changing event isn't autonomy, it's the day conformance moves inside the flight controller and arming becomes conditional. That's the part of this hobby I'd actually worry about losing.
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u/Lazy-Inevitable3970 2d ago
Technology won't change it as much as government restrictions and regulations. They have already changed things drastically. I can fly an ultralight aircraft without any FAA registration, certification, or training. However, if I fly a 250g (0.55 pound) RC model of that ultralight, I have to register with the FAA, take the TRUST test, mark my RC aircraft, have remote ID (or fly at a FRIA), and possibly get a Part 107 certification (if I intend to fly for any reason other than recreation).
Some of those restrictions were forced by congress when people started drawing attention to UASs by doing stupid stuff, some of those restrictions were put in place when large corporations were making big promises to about drone delivery to Congress. Well some of those regulations were poorly thought out and implemented, which opens the doors for further regulation to "fix" the broken regs. Drone delivery tech is by no means common, but it has become developed enough that is it plausible in some areas and could become more common in the coming years... that would open the doors to more regulation to fit the needs of the big corporations. And finally, Ukraine and other countries have shifted views of drones to potentially dangerous things, which means even more regulation.
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u/FreeNet_Coyote 2d ago
Already happened, the fact they are doing fpv drone warfare and putting bomb on drone changed the hobby forever + said regulations
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u/robomaniac 2d ago
Look at the last 10y. I started in 2015. Basically software and FPV feed. Digital was the biggest leap. Now next 10y maybe battery chemistry.
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u/amy-schumer-tampon 1d ago
Pretty sure the hobbies will be made entirely illegal in few years.
That being said, i think battery energy density will be higher
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u/Human_Routine_8951 13h ago
the idea of hundreds of simpler drones working together is more interesting to me than one expensive machine
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u/dallukhan 13h ago
The software side is where the biggest shift will happen. Looking at companies like Gencheery, it's interesting to see how drone development it moving beyond the airframe itself and toward smarter, more adaptable system.
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u/Icy_Narwhal2781 11h ago
i'd be watching navigation closely, as drones become less department on gps
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u/FWundercover 10h ago
the physical hardware could become less important once the software gets good enough
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u/tf2_idiot2 10h ago
drone technology seems to be moving toward systems that can make more decisions without constant human input.
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u/After-Second3356 9h ago
the interesting future for drone technology might be coordination between large numbers of relatively simple systems
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u/GloomyPhilosopher168 8h ago
drone technology will look very different once autonomy becomes more important than the person controlling every movement
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u/aeternus-eternis 2d ago
Drones will increasingly be seen as weapons. FPV game devs will realize that war drones are more fun than FPV racing + freestyle sims.
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u/zuidspook_FPV 2d ago
What do you mean war is more fun than freestyle and racing?
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u/aeternus-eternis 2d ago
Games where you blow each other + vehicles up with drones. Like FPV Kamikaze drone and the Ukranian training military training game that Bardwell just reviewed.
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u/SheriffBartholomew 3d ago
Regulations will have the biggest impact